B90: Reading the Bible in 90 Days

I finished this challenge yesterday! In 89 days!

Three months ago I was not sure if I could do this, but once I got started I just persevered. I really, really enjoyed it. I learned so much by reading the entire Bible in such a small time period. I am actually looking forward to reading it in 90 days again, beginning in July. For these next three months, I am planning to study one or more books of the Bible in depth, or maybe study one book and then choose a topic to study in depth. It all depends on how long it takes me to study the first book I chose: James.

To begin my study, today I retrieved my Bible Study Binder, and I thought about how I would like to reorganize it. It needs a little bit of cleaning out, and I plan to file away most of the papers in the binder (thankful lists, Bible study notes, helpful articles) to make room for my new study. I think I am going to put all of the encouraging articles that I print out from time to time and put them in their own binder.

Next, I thought about how I would like to study the book of James, and I decided to use the inductive study method, using notes and outlines that a preacher friend, Joel Ellis, shared with me. This morning I simply read through the entire book of James, made a note listing the date I read it, which reading it was (the 1st), the version I read from (ESV), and then I listed one verse to ponder today.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

James 4:7-8

For the first three or four days I will simply read the entire book of James in different versions of the Bible, and list a key verse in my notebook. After that I will begin to make notes as I read, listing the themes of each chapter, dividing the book into major divisions and then making outlines of each division or chapter. The next step will be to answer questions such as "Who? Where? When? Why? How?" as I read each section. Following this I will read cross references, and use Bible dictionaries, commentaries, and concordances to further research the book. The last phases of this inductive study will be to summarize the purpose of the text to the original audience and then analyze the purpose of the text for my life today.

I am looking forward to this Bible study!

Our Spring Break

Hello Blog Readers!

This is our spring break, and I have been busy as a bee! Of course my list is way longer than the time I have, but I am whittling away a little of it.

This is the next to last week of our marathon training. It is considered a taper week--but we still have 35 miles on the schedule. I have already run 3 Monday, 9 yesterday, and 8 today. That leaves 15 for Friday, our last long run before the big event. Next week, the week of the marathon (I can't believe that week is almost here!), we just have a 4 mile run on Monday, a 3 mile run on Tuesday, and then rest, rest, rest, until the actual marathon. I am not sure what I will do with the extra time!

Monday I began cleaning out my boys' room. A deep clean. I moved beds, cleaned baseboards, vacuumed, and dusted. I scrubbed their bathroom. And then I began cleaning out--the floor to ceiling shelves, the entire walk in closet, and every single drawer (two chests, two night stands, and one desk).

I didn't finish Monday, because I had to go to Corinth to have my windshield replaced on my van. We had a nice visit with Jimmy's parents and his sister and her family. We had a small birthday celebration for Jenny and Clay who share a birthday. Jimmy, Clay, and Sam met us girls there. They had left earlier in the day for a short trip to Memphis to check out the Bass Pro Shop.

Yesterday after my run I ran a couple of errands, and then I got back to work on the boys' room. I cleaned until it was time to cook supper. Jimmy took the three older children for a trail run while I cooked.

Today after my run I went back upstairs to finish the boys' room. And it is finished! Well, almost--I left a pile of junk (I mean valuable stuff) for Clay to go through and make a decision about. I also left 3 small baskets of parts and pieces. I am not sure what they go with, and I will need Clay to put each piece where it belongs. Also, I am assigning Clay a lego organization task. The lego storage has gotten a little bit out of hand. I need him to find a home for each stray (and there are a couple of hundred) lego piece that I found while cleaning. Plus I want him to do something with the several large boxes of legos that have only about five pieces inside. We need to consolidate our lego pieces. I sorted Sam's legos yesterday by color. I also put the speciality pieces in their own boxes. I am not sure what Sam thinks about my work, but the clear boxes of sorted by color and type legos sure look great to me!

No pictures. I am too tired to go back up there right now!

Happy Birthday Clay!

Saturday was Clay's 12th birthday!

We began the day by participating in a 5K race that was held just 2.5 miles from our house. The weather was stormy...thundering, lightning, pouring down rain! Jimmy, Olivia, Julie, and Clay ran the 5K, and Leah ran the 1 mile Fun Run. There was a break in the storm a little after eight, so the race began....in the rain! By the time Leah ran, the rain had stopped.

The Runners!

After the race, our dear friends Lynn, Kelly, and their four children came over to help us celebrate Clay's birthday. We had sandwiches, chicken dip and crackers, ice cream and a delicious homemade chocolate cake.

I took a few pictures, but they are not really that good. I am just not a photographer! I forgot to take a picture of the entire table. I decorated the table with a popcorn theme. I used a new hot air popcorn popper as the centerpiece, and then I added plastic popcorn containers and the cute little clown cupcakes that the girls decorated.

the centerpiece

pitiful, pitiful pictures!

some of the table decor

Carson and Sam

John Parker and Clay

Clay and Jared

Lynn and Kelly--my marathon running partners!

Avery and Leah

Julie and Olivia

Clay and Jimmy

the birthday boy with his gifts

After lunch Jimmy and Kelly took the boys downtown to a Mustang car show. Then we met Jimmy and Clay at the Olive Garden for the birthday supper.

the girls

the boys

not a rock wall--

This was the stone wall behind our table at the restaurant.....Sam thought it was a rock wall. We made him get down after I took a picture!

I think Clay had a good day! I can't believe that he is twelve. He is such joy. Clay is pleasant, generous, hard-working, patient and kind, and I know that he will grow up to be a wonderful young man. God has truly blessed Jimmy and me.

I'm Behind

Well, what a week it has been!

School, running, and that's about all!

I am so behind in everything it seems....behind in my B90 reading (Bible in 90 Days)--I am supposed to be finished on March 31. I am not giving up, I am persevering, but I AM going to have to carve out some serious time to catch up. I have not used either of the two "free" days (that B90 is actually B88, you get two free days), but I plan to use them right now, so I can get caught up.

I am behind in my housekeeping.....the dusting, vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, microwave and stove cleaning, laundry, ironing....

I am behind in my household goals for the year.....the major clean-out projects.

I still have not read past the first page in my current book, Large Family Logistics.

We are on week 23 of 36 in our Sonlight cores. Now, we are not behind because we have not been doing school, it's just that we have had 4 day school weeks this entire school year. I have finally admitted to the children that we are going to have to go to "year round homeschool", since doing school 4 days a week does not allow for 3 months off in the summer! I think we are all fine with that. We take off from school when Jimmy is off from work. That's one of the reason we homeschool--to spend time together as a family. So when he works, we school. When he is off, we play and work together as a family. As my older children are getting older, I am finding that I cannot fit their courses (especially high school ones) in 4 day weeks plus having December off, plus a fall break, plus a spring break, plus 10 weeks off in the summer. That's just the way it is.

We began our Spring Break today! We had a friend come over to teach the children cake decorating this afternoon. Tomorrow Jimmy and four of the children are running a race. Tomorrow is also Clay's birthday! And Lynn and I are still plugging along with our marathon training. This week's mileage is 44 miles. We ran 17 this morning. Two weeks from tomorrow is the big day!

Here is what Jimmy and the boys have been doing lately.

The Marathon Dress Rehearsal

Saturday Lynn and I ran our marathon "dress rehearsal". The day before we ate exactly how we will eat the day before the actual marathon. We have both conducted some internet research on the best pre-race diet (and as you know the internet is full of conflicting advice on every subject!), and we formulated our personal pre-race day menu. We made sure we consumed 2000 calories of cereal, pretzels, animal crackers, graham crackers, a banana, chocolate milk, a coke (yes we even found a website that said that soda was a good carb loading choice!), plus a pasta or rice based lunch and supper. We also drank lots and lots of water. I think I ended up drinking the equivalent of 6 water bottles.

The morning of the run we wore what we plan to wear on race day. The exact shirt, hat, and shorts. We tried out our new non running shorts. That's what they are called in the catalog. They are longer than typical running shorts, and are very comfortable. They worked perfectly. They have a tiny zippered pocket in the back that will hold 4 Clif Shot Gel packets (that is for carbs during the race), and we pinned more 2 gel packets inside our shorts.

Then we ran 22 miles.

It took us 3 hours, 51 minutes, not counting bathroom breaks. We stop our watches for that, but we know that during the actual marathon we will be on the clock the entire run. We are still aiming for an under 5 hour finish. I feel more confident after completing 22 miles that we can attain that, but you never know. Those last 4 miles could be brutal. We have heard all of the horror stories of the last few miles of a marathon. We are prepared. Hopeful, but mentally prepared.

This week's training will be challenging too. Our medium run is 10, and our long run is 17, but we also have a 6,6, and 5 mile run to complete too. I have really enjoyed the training runs that I have run with Lynn and other friends. Lynn's husband, Kelly has run most of the long runs with us (although he listens to music and does not visit with us girls), and our friends Yonea and Amber have joined us for our medium runs and sometimes half of our long runs. It really has been a lot of fun!

I leave you with a hilarious video to watch.

Happy Birthday Pops!

Yesterday was my daddy's birthday. I took the children down to my parents' house for a quick visit. My mama decorated the birthday table with a St. Patrick's Day theme, and my grandmother made his birthday cake with a shamrock on top.

Pops opening his gifts

Julie, Olivia, and Clay sporting green glasses

Sam, Mims, and Leah in their glasses

Clay and Pops

I'm not sure why Clay has on two pair of glasses.

Leah and Meme

Do you like my green hair?

I wore this headband most of the evening since I didn't wear green.

the yummy cake

We enjoyed a delicious supper and dessert with my family. The girls sewed and crafted while the boys ran around in the backyard and played with Legos.

I spent most of my time updating my parents' electronics....their computer, their iPad, syncing pictures for them.....I also used their wireless internet to update all of my electronics. They have much faster internet than we do at home, so I always take advantage of it!

Happy Birthday Pops!

Four Moms Manage--Bread Baking

Life in a Shoe

Raising Olives

Smockity Frocks

The Common Room

Today the Four Moms, 35 Kids are hosting a link-up to share homemade bread recipes. Yummy! Just last week I shared my experience in making homemade bread for the very first time. I am sharing my link to that post with the Four Moms link-up. You can click here to read about my bread making, or click on any of the blog names underneath the picture to read many more bread recipes.

Happy bread baking!

A Neat Menu Planning Site

I recently discovered this website while looking for a menu calendar type app for my iPad. I found Pepperplate.com, and it is a cool site as well as an iPad/iPhone app. In fact, you must use the website to manage your calendars and plans, but you can access your info with the app. So even if you don't have an iProduct, you can still use this program!

I used the Menus part to list all of the meals that I normal cook for supper. Then I used the Planner part to put the meals on a particular day of the month. You can view the entire month at one glance. I shop weekly, so I am only adding my menus to the planner one week at a time, but I can see the entire month. This keeps me from serving the same things over and over. If you wanted to plan your entire month at one time, you could!

It has a Recipes section, but I have not even explored that yet. Normally, I just refer to my own blog for recipes that I have posted, use a cookbook, or retrieve a recipe from my documents if I have typed and saved it. Since I keep my laptop on my kitchen counter, I can easily cook while looking at my computer screen. Maybe entering all of the recipes into this program would be useful.

Happy Menu planning!

Bean Burritos

1 lb. dry pinto beans

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp. minced garlic from the jar

1 Tbs. chili powder

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 large can diced green chiles

The night before you want to serve this, soak the package of beans in a large bowl in enough water to cover the beans.

The next morning, drain and rinse the beans. Place beans in a large soup pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn down heat, and simmer the beans for 2-3 hours, adding more water if necessary, and stirring occasionally. When beans are almost ready (tender), saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Add the seasonings. Drain the cooked beans, but reserve the liquid. Put the cooked beans and a little bit of the bean liquid in the blender, and blend until smooth. Mix beans, the onion mixture and the green chiles in soup pot. Add more bean liquid if needed. Taste, and add more salt if needed.

I serve this on heated flour tortillas with salsa, cheese, and lettuce. Each 1/4 cup of beans is about 48 calories. A bean burrito made with salsa, a little bit of cheese and lettuce is around 200 calories. These are very filling.

I freeze half of the bean mixture to be used in the future.

The beans are also good served over tortilla chips with grated cheese--nachos!

This recipe is from my Sue Gregg cookbook....of course with a few adaptions. I just can't seem to ever make a recipe exactly like it says!

A Rainy, Dreary Monday

a little bit of spring cheer

Today's weather has been so dreary! It has rained and rained all day. But on the bright side, we did not have to leave the house today. The children's piano teacher is taking Spring Break this week, so we didn't have piano lessons this afternoon. We were able to complete all of our schoolwork, and I even read a little bit extra in both Core K and Core 5 of our Sonlight reading. However, we are now behind in one of our Core 5 books, because it is MISSING! I have no idea where that book can be. I keep all of our current Sonlight read aloud books in a basket in our den. We misplaced another Sonlight book earlier in the year, but it was a read alone for Julie and Clay. After looking for it for several days, I finally just bought it for the iPad. Of course, we found the book the very next day on the bookshelf that I had looked through multiple times! I sure hope this book turns up before tomorrow!

To brighten the afternoon, the girls (mostly Leah) made tissue paper flowers. We placed them in two vases, and along with our spring placemats, now our table looks really springy. I guess I

need to take the Valentine's decorations off of the light fixture hanging above the table. Leah also made a pipe cleaner lei. I found a link to the decorations at The Homeschool Classroom. I cannot figure out how to link to the exact post, but you can go to The Homeschool Classroom (where I will have an article about helping your homeschool day run more smoothly on March 24), and scroll down to the post about spring crafts. Cute ideas!

I hope you have had a good Monday too!

Menu Plan Monday

I am still trying to cook and serve healthy meals around here. My Sue Gregg cookbooks are invaluable!

We pretty much eat the same things for breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

Breakfast: cereal (some sort of cheerios or Fiber One), peanut butter and jelly, Clif granola bars

Lunch: leftovers, flour tortilla roll-ups, fresh fruit

Snacks: popcorn, pretzels, cheese nips, almonds, animal crackers, fresh fruit

Suppers for this week:

• Sauteed squash, peppers, and onions, served with tomatoes over brown rice
• baked chicken strips, oven fries, green beans, black-eyed peas
• chicken strip salad
• pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, crunchy romaine salad
• vegetable soup, grilled cheese sandwiches

Please visit OrgJunkie.com for more menus.

Homeschool Journal

In my life this week.....

I began reading Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman, and I am finished with the Old Testament in my Bible in 90 Days reading. Today I will read through Matthew 26. I am finding it harder to read without pausing to highlight or take notes now that I am in the New Testament. I am also reading the NT in a new light, having just completed the OT.

I drastically reduced my total running miles this week due to training fatigue. I ran 45 miles last week, but cut back this week to 25. This morning I ran my long run for the week--18 miles. It was a tough run. Lynn and I were so rested, that we started out too fast. The last mile was painful. Live and learn! Next week's training jumps back up to 47 miles, but I think that resting for the next two days should have me physically refreshed and ready to go!

In our homeschool this week....

We began reading two new books, The Land I Lost (about a young boy's life in Vietnam) and Rascal. Our Sonlight studies have moved us into Southeast Asia.

Olivia conducted a cool chemistry experiment involving cabbage, salt, vinegar, ammonia, and I'm sure some other supplies as well. I am not sure what she was doing, but Sam and Leah observed her while I read Sonlight books to Julie and Clay.

Leah worked on her Solar System lapbook, Clay began a study of the five senses in his Apologia science book, Julie wrote the body of her research paper comparing the cultural differences between Mongolia and Egypt, and I overheard Sam counting to 50.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...

Our homeschool cross country team, the Spartans, resumed weekly practice this week. Both the children and I were so excited to see all of our friends.

We plan to make a visit to my parents' house soon. We haven't been there since Thanksgiving.

My favorite thing this week was...

enjoying my family. Jimmy was off Tuesday, and that's always nice.

What's working/not working for us...

Working--I switched around our daily school routines a little bit, and seems to be working. Previously we were doing our Sonlight reading immediately after our Bible lesson (first thing each day). Now the children are moving to independent work right after Bible, and starting with Sam, I am working with each child one at a time. I work my way through the children, youngest to oldest, and I am able to get to Olivia before lunch. This has insured that I am checking each child's schoolwork every day. Most days I even get to Leah's Sonlight reading before lunch, and then after lunch I am reading Julie's and Clay's Sonlight to them. Leah and Sam usually listen to the books too, and doing it this way allows Olivia to listen if she wants to also.

Not working--Teaching Textbooks Geometry. Help!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...

If you have a high school student, what do you use for math? I am not happy with Teaching Textbooks, and I am looking for something new to use for next year for Julie (Algebra I) and Olivia (Algebra II). I also want another 8th grade pre-algebra and geometry curriculum for the future.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...

Does your front porch look like this?

Mine actually looks a little bit more productive since I took this picture this morning....Clay and Sam have spent the afternoon constructing a squirrel trap out of bamboo. They want to trap the cute little squirrel that keeps stealing pecans off of our back porch.

They want him for a pet!

Please visit The Homeschool Chick for more homeschool journal entries.

Fingerpaint in a Bag

This is a fun activity that is super easy to set up. Children of all ages (even my teenagers) enjoy this!

Supplies: gallon sized zipper bags and paint

Squirt a small amount of three or four colors of paint into each bag.

Zip the bag closed.

Give to your children to "fingerpaint" away.

No mess! No clean-up!

This will occupy them for a long time (at least 20 minutes)!

Display the beautiful finished product!

Book Reading Update

Well here it is March, and I have completed only one book on my booklist for 2011! Only one! And I actually started reading it in 2010. It is Take Four by Karen Kingsbury.

I am keeping up with my Read the Whole Bible in 90 Days plan, and I am staying ahead of the children on most of their Sonlight books, but both of those readings have not left much time for any other books. I hope that when we wind down most of our school subjects in late May/early June, that I will find some extra reading time. Of course then I will be busy with summer activities, next year's school planning, and summer cleaning/purging. I still have hope! I plan to persevere and get at least three of the books on my booklist read.

How is your booklist going?

Resolutions Part 5

Physical Fitness Goals

Even though I made several resolutions (goals) back in January, I am still working on them. My focus word for this year is persevere, and I am still persevering in all of my goals.

Fitness goals can be tough. I like to set goals that I feel like I can meet with reasonable effort. I can always set a higher goal once I meet my first one. I posted last year about beginning a running plan. You can click here if you would like information about this.

Also, here is a link to a post I wrote last summer about the challenges of exercising.

Here are my fitness goals for 2011:

• Complete a marathon. April 9th is the date! I also had the goal of surviving the training. I just completed a 44 mile and 45 mile week, and next week's mileage is 47 miles. For this current week, we are backing down to 25 total miles to give our bodies a little bit of rest. So far, so good!
• Run a 10K in under 55 minutes. I am signed up for a 10K on May 7th, but I am not sure if this will be the race to meet this goal. I have no idea what kind of running shape I will be in after the marathon. I have slowed way down in order to complete the high mileage weeks and long runs. I am not sure if one month will give me enough time to learn to run fast (for me) again. I may have to find another 10K to try to meet this goal.
• Complete 60 days of Insanity. I am not sure when I am going to begin the 60 days. I have to work around our summer schedule which includes a beach vacation, Rustic Youth Camp, and Vacation Bible School. I may begin Insanity one week after my marathon, but then I am not sure how I could train for my 10K in May. So I am still undecided about how I am going to meet this goal as well as my 10K goal.
• After I do the 60 days of Insanity, I want to continue with a fitness plan of both selected Insanity videos and 3 days of running. I want to stay in running shape so that I can run 3 half marathons in the fall.

I think that's all!

What are your fitness goals? How are you doing on all of your other resolutions or goals? How about your focus word? Are you still thinking about it?

Menu Monday

Here is this week's menu....full of low calorie, but still good-tasting suppers.

• grilled hamburgers, (made with lean ground beef, and very small, thin patties, and served with light whole wheat buns), oven fries (made by slicing potatoes, tossing with 1 Tbs. olive oil and roasting in a 400 degree oven)
• spaghetti (made with angel hair pasta and homemade tomato sauce), salad
• baked chicken strips, baked sweet potatoes (regular potatoes for some), salad
• pasta salad (made with wheat blend pasta, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, cheese, and Italian dressing made with olive oil and red wine vinegar)
• bean burritos (another Sue Gregg recipe)
• chicken strip salad
• homemade pizza

Please visit OrgJunkie for more menu inspiration.

Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

I have now made homemade bread two times in my life! And both times were in the last month.

I used a recipe from my Sue Gregg cookbooks again. I have had this set of cookbooks for several years now, but I am using them more than ever now that I am trying to improve my family's diet.

Whole Wheat Bread

(with my variations)

1/4 cup very warm water

1 Tbs. active dry yeast

1 Tbs. honey

2 cups hot water

2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup olive oil

6 cups whole wheat flour (maybe a little bit more)

Stir 1 Tbs. yeast and 1 Tbs. honey into 1/4 cup very warm water.

Let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes or so. It will bubble up.

Then it looks like this.

In a large bowl combine 2 cups hot water, 2 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup honey, and 1/3 cup olive oil (if you measure the olive oil first, and then measure the honey in the same measuring cup, the honey will slide out easily).

Now add 3 cups of flour to the above mixture, combine and then add the bubbly yeast mixture. Combine as best you can--it will be stiff.

Measure 3 more cups of flour into a bowl and sprinkle a little bit on the counter.

Put the dough on the counter, and begin kneading the remaining 3 cups of flour into the dough.

Knead for 15 minutes, adding the flour gradually. You may need to add a little bit more than the 3 cups, but try not to add too much. Just add it as you are kneading as the dough gets sticky.

I have to say that I really enjoyed kneading the dough.

When you are finished kneading, it will look like this!

Beautiful!

Spray non-stick spray into a large bowl add put the ball of dough inside. Spray a little bit on top of the dough too.

Cover the dough with a damp dish cloth, and put it somewhere warm to rise for an hour and a half. I put my bowl of dough in our schoolroom bathroom! It is a small room, and it gets really warm in there with the door closed and the heat running. I will have to find a new place when the weather gets hot.

It should rise to about double the original size.

Punch the dough down with your fist.

Punch it a little bit more!

Next, divide the dough half, and shape each half into a loaf. Spray two loaf pans with non-stick spray, add the dough, cover, and let rise in the warm place for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the loaves for 40 minutes.

When the bread is done, place the loaves on racks to cool.

Slice and enjoy!

100 calories per 1/2 inch slice.

This post is linked to Four Moms, 35 Kids.

Please click here for the links to all of the blogs hosting this event.

Chicken and Rice Soup

This recipe is adapted from Sue Gregg's Soups and Muffins. I have the whole set of Sue Gregg's cookbooks, and they have been invaluable to me as I am trying to cook healthier foods for my family. Julie enjoys reading and cooking from these cookbooks too.

Chicken and Rice Soup

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 quarts organic chicken broth

1/2 cup brown rice

1 cup chopped baby carrots

1 chopped onion

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 cup frozen green peas

1 1/2 cups 1 % milk

3 Tbs. whole wheat flour

garlic salt to taste

Boil chicken breasts in water to cover. Season water with garlic salt. When chicken is done (about an hour or so), remove chicken from broth. Add the 2 quarts of chicken broth to remaining water (now broth) in pot. Add rice, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, saute carrots and onions in olive oil. Shred chicken. After rice cooks, add onion, carrots, and chicken to pot. Cover and simmer for a while. I started this right after lunch, and just let the soup simmer all afternoon over very low heat. About one hour (or less) before serving add peas. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Whisk flour into milk, and then add this to the soup pot. Stir to combine and simmer for 20 more minutes or until soup is heated throughout. Taste and add more salt or garlic salt to taste.

Delicious! Each one cup serving is 161 calories.

I served this with homemade whole wheat bread.

Move It Memphis 5K & 10K

Last Saturday our family traveled to Memphis to participate in the Move It Memphis 5K & 10K. Jimmy ran the 10K, and Olivia, Julie, and Clay ran the 5K. I took pictures and watched the races with Leah and Sam. The race site was Beale Street, right beside the FedEx Forum.

Clay approaching the finish line

Jimmy approaching the finish line.

That bird was in the way of my picture taking!

Jimmy set a PR for a 10K--44:38. We are all so proud of him!

The weather was perfect for running! This race had about 1000 participants, and it used a new kind of chip timing....a strip affixed to the back of the race number.

Jimmy and Julie after the race.

Jimmy ran 5 or 6 more miles (I can't remember) after the race. He had to get in an 11 or 12 mile run for his current marathon training. While he ran, we enjoyed post-race refreshments and entertainment from the live band.

Sam and Clay hanging around after the race

Sam trying to smell what is left of my hair!

I got most of it cut off!

Clay and Julie listening to the band

Olivia with her award

Julie with her award

Clay with his award

We weren't sure if Jimmy won an award of not....they had some issues with the race results.....I think some of the runners who had registered for the 10K, actually decided to run the 5K, and when they crossed the finish line, it messed up the official race results.

Anyway, the award for Jimmy was setting a PR! Personal satisfaction is better than a trophy any day!

Our Family

Five weeks from tomorrow is my marathon! Panic!

Well, not really panic yet, but I am getting a little bit nervous. Yesterday Lynn and I did our 20 mile run, and I felt surprisingly ok. In fact, I felt pretty good all day until about 5:00 PM. Then I just crashed, and made it the best I could until bedtime. Running these total miles per week and running these long runs (and the medium runs which are 9-11 miles) each week are making me physically tired. Lynn and I have an 18, 22, 17, and 15 mile long run left, and then the big event!

I hope we survive!